Chinese firms eye strong EU brands, survey says

Jul 8, 2013 | News

China Daily Cash-rich Chinese companies are eyeing strong brands as a key goal when making merger and acquisition deals in Europe despite their concerns about reputation risk, a survey by international law firm Clifford Chance has said. The survey, released on...

Chinese Developers Take the Backdoor to Hong Kong Listings

Jul 8, 2013 | News

The Wall Street Journal Chinese property developers are turning to a new source of cash—backdoor listings in Hong Kong—in response to restrictions on raising funds on the mainland and a tough market for initial public offerings in the territory. At least seven Chinese...

Moscow Seed Fund invests $240,000 in traffic monitoring service

Jul 8, 2013 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

East-West Digital News The Moscow Seed Fund, the City of Moscow’s venture arm, has poured 8 million rubles (about $240,000) into a startup named Probki Iz Okna (Russian for “traffic jams from the window”). The company has created a large network of webcams installed...

Rocket Internet’s furniture online retailer Mebelrama.ru is shutting down

Jul 8, 2013 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

East-West Digital News Russian furniture e-retailer Mebelrama.ru, which had been backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet, is shutting down, the company’s co-founder Manuela Stoll confirmed in an exchange with East-West Digital News. In late 2012, the startup landed a $10...

Skoltech loses set funding from state-owned firms

Jul 8, 2013 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

President Vladimir Putin has canceled the instruction issued by his predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, which required state-run companies to make contributions to the endowment fund of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech). The new order issued by...

Family cloud platform Frolik receives $1.5 million investment

Jul 7, 2013 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

East-West Digital News MTT, a Russian telecom group owned by VTB and former telecommunication minister Leonid Reiman, has announced that it has invested 50 million rubles (about $1.5 million) in Frolik, a service for children and their parents, since project start in...